|
upFront.eZine |
|
|
a
publication from |
|
|
Issue #601 : : April 21, 2009 |
|
|
In this issue: Autodesk Holds a Manufacturing Tech Day, Part II - progeCAD |
Write the editor. Make him smile! Through Paypal, consider donating $25 in support of upFront.eZine. Or else... We're trendy. We have a Weblog. WorldCAD Access. |
|
|
|
|
Autodesk Holds a Manufacturing Tech Day Part II Autodesk management told us journalists a lot during Tech Day -- except for the subject of possibly the greatest interest, Fusion. Instead, here's what we did learn about other software, including the newly acquired MoldFlow:
Data Management with Vault Brian Roepke is senior product line manager for Autodesk Vault. The position is a bit of a step down, for he is the former ceo of truInnovations, which he co-founded in 1999 to create trueVault as easy-to-use software for managing data. The company was acquired by Autodesk in 2003, and then became the basis of Vault. Until this year, Autodesk's data management software line consisted of two products: (1) free Vault for controlling drawing file and monitoring work-in-progress; and (4) ProductStream for bills of material and so on; $1995 per network user. Mr Roepke decided that Autodesk also needed to offer software that was more than Vault, but less than ProductStream. So two levels were added between, and ProductStream was renamed Vault Manufacturing: (2) Vault Workgroup is $995 and does revision management and security for AutoCAD and Inventor; and (3) Vault Collaboration for larger workgroups and multiple sites; $1,495. Almost everything can be done inside Inventor through the Vault tab on the ribbon. One new feature is the choice to select either the "Latest" version or the "Released" version. Vault then uses Inventor to rebuild assemblies from earlier revisions of parts. (Released parts cannot be edited.) Vault checks if the part to be edited is used by other assemblies. If so, you can check to see if change to the part would affect them. If so, a copy is made of the part, which is then edited. Another new feature is Quick Change, where a revision needn't be forced because of minor changes, such as correcting spelling errors or adding a dimension. This can be seen as flexibility -- or a loophole. To overcome the loophole, Vault requires you to explain the type of Quick Change to prove that the change is insufficiently significant to not warrant a revision. The new Documentation Phase collects drawing and office files for product catalogs and so on. Mr Roepke told us that there are "hundreds of thousands" of users of Vault. The lowest level of Vault is included with Inventor and AutoCAD subscriptions. I asked about using Vault with Revit. (Some Civil3D customers are using Vault, because Civil3D is based on AutoCAD.) As for Revit, it could be adapted, but Revit uses a database as its file format, so this is a more difficult problem to solve. Another editor asked about SharePoint. Vault can publish to SharePoint, but licensing it from Microsoft would make Vault cost more; Mr Roepke noted that SharePoint is often available when buying a Microsoft package. Vault uses Microsoft's SQL Server as its database engine.
Inventor for Industrial Machinery Simon Bosley told us about improvements to Inventor's sheetmetal design module. While it already had rules for defining bend allowances, what's new are formulas that define metallurgically the stretching of metal when bent and unbent. The mathematical formulas define how the metal reacts when un/folded based on material, the folding method, and the quality of the bend. Another update is to lofted flanges (such as square to round): Inventor now figures out the manufacturing steps for the bend order, with manual overrides. A new unfold-refold tool defines additional operations (such as punching) in the flattened state. Punches are now accurately defined by deformations when the sheetmetal is refolded. To handle big models, Inventor now opens LOD (level of detail) representations in an instant. You can use the new ShrinkWrap feature to define which parts are displayed, such as connections, outer panels -- and which are not. ShrinkWrap can also be used to protect IP [intellectual property], because it removes details and the insides of models. Mr Bosley also described Autodesk's new package file format, .adsk. It is an XML-format file that combines geometry with metadata -- the future of data exchange for all Autodesk software. A typical use is to get models Inventor to Revit: place equipment (elevators, HVAC systems, etc) in buildings. It uses ShrinkWrap to create surface models (instead of solid models), along with connection points, plus meta data such as supplier and part name. It was not clear to me whether .adsk files could be used to place Revit models in Inventor. I asked about bi-directionality: it is yet to come.
Alias for Industrial Design The big news is that Alias 2010 now runs on the Mac, after Autodesk found that 30% of the target market prefers Mac over Windows. Also, Autodesk reduced the Alias product line to three packages, and reduced pricing by 25% over last year: 1. Alias Design ($3,995) does sketching, has some NURBS, and visualization. It is meant for early design to explore ideas and do early prototyping. 2. Alias Surface ($19,995) lacks sketching, but adds full NURBS and Bezier tools, class A surfacing, reverse engineering, and visualization. It is meant for the back end, the realization stage. 3. Alias Automotive ($65,000 + subscription) for automotive and transportation (airplanes, mototcycles, trains, and ships). It is meant for the designer who needs everything -- and can afford it.
The only preview we were shown was of Project Bauhaus, a conceptual 2D sketcher that works in mixed raster and parametric vector mode. It'll be available on Autodesk Labs later this year, apparently.
Moldflow and Navisworks We got the low-down on the MoldFlow software that Autodesk recently acquired. Autodesk says they reduced the number of products from 93 to 17, and lowered prices. The software goes all the way from conceptual design to manufacturing, and comes in two product lines, with three levels for both: 1. Advisor for designers starts at $5,000. It does things like calculate the time it takes for molten plastic to fill steel molds, predict the quality of cast, and so on. 2. Insight for mold design specialists goes for $90,000 for everything. (Bargain! Used to be $300,000 when sold by MoldFlow Corp.) It shows how the plastic fills the mold, complete with feeds, warp prediction, and so on.
A single button click in Inventor exports the model to Moldflow. Advisor includes specs for 8,000 grades of plastic; there are another 4,000 proprietary materials tested for customers. (The Moldflow division tests the materials themselves.) Unlike the previous Manufacturing Event and its emphasis on “green,” the only mention this day was Moldflow’s new energy use indicator and type of recyclability -- and I learned something new: a "7" means the plastic is essentially unrecyclable, and is suitable for items used for a long time. Throw-away water bottles, which abounded at this event, would be 1 or 2. The Energy Usage indicator reports the amount of heat needed to melt the plastic and the level of difficulty in pushing the plastic into the mold. MoldFlow continues to work with non-Autodesk CAD software.
Switching over to Navisworks, directory of factory simulation Scott Reese told us about what's new in Navisworks Manufacturing 2010. It can be used to validate installations inside buildings prior to construction, such as factory assemblies. Data can be from a variety of file formats, including laser scan and neutral CAD. The software does virtual walkthroughs of factories using lighweight data representation. It can do sections and measurements, and can join 3D pointcloud data with existing drawings to do clash checks between the two. In addition to collision checking, you can specify clearance zones, such as keeping objects 5m from a robot arm. Navisworks can handle point cloud files as large as 18GB. The 4D simulation feature lets you sequence the building of factories. Scheduling data can be import, and then be associated with drawings. Then sit back and playback the simulation of the equipment in being installed. In addition to the free viewer, the Navisworks consists of: 1. Navisworks Review ($2,500) aggregates data and large data visualization. 2. Navisworks Simulate ($4,000) does 4D simulation and animation. 3. Navisworks Manage ($10,000) add clash detection.
The three are also sold for AEC projects.
AutoCAD for Manufacturing The demo of AutoCAD 2010 was the same as given online earlier in the year, so nothing new there. How's this for product positioning: "Lets the nonadventurous AutoCAD user try out these advanced features, like parametrics." AutoCAD 2010's new 3D mesh models can be directly exported to Inventor.
Inventor for Consumer Products Product manager John Callen showed us how he could perform the predesign of a plastic part in Alias, move the file into Inventor for detail drawing, and then to Inventor Tooling. The associative import from Alias gives a notification in Inventor that the part has changed. Each year, Autodesk adds to Inventor's ability to import design data from Alias; now it imports solids, surfaces, or curves. Inventor Tooling ($7,000) is meant for designing molds for plastics. It was first rolled out in China and South America last year -- probably because most tooling now happens in China -- and now is being released worldwide. Inventor Tooling Suite is available two ways: (1) as a standalone suit, like Routed Systems, or (2) as part of Inventor Pro ($7,995). It has a number of MoldFlow analysis modules integrated into it, like plastic flow and shrinkage, and accesses the 6000-plastic database inside Inventor. Copies of “AutoCAD Inventor 2010 Professional Suite 2010” was given to all attendees; it contained 6 DVDs, yet a slip of paper indicated that Tooling needed to be downloaded. I asked about the replacement of “Autodesk” by “AutoCAD” from the software title; the change occurred because the package includes AutoCAD, I was told -- a curious explanation, for Inventor suites have included AutoCAD for several years. - - - This press day had an excellent format, where a couple of journalists travel from room to room every hour, spending 45 minutes or so with specific topics and software demos. No fluff, like explaining the company's position in the market, etc. It must've been tough on the demo jocks and product managers, though, who had to repeat the same stuff seven times in a row. www.autodesk.com/manufacturing [Disclosure: Autodesk paid for some of my travel expenses, and provided all attendees with accommodation, some meals, and corporate gifts.] Updated IntelliCAD eBooks IntelliCAD is currently at version 6.5 and so I have updated my IntelliCAD line of ebooks. This time around, they are based on the progeCAD dialect of IntelliCAD.
Bricscad Bricsys has updated its Bricscad software to V9, and I've done mild updates to the related ebooks -- mild, as in new screen grabs and references to V9 instead of V8. So both of these ebooks work for users of V8 and V9 of Bricscad.
For all of our ebooks, see eBooks.online at http://www.upfrontezine.com/ebooks
Out of the Inbox The last few 3D mice from Logitech-owned 3Dconnexion drove down the price and feature set, but now the company strikes back with a new high-end model. SpacePilot PRO ($499) features a color LCD display (named the Workflow Assistant), updated QuickView navigation, programmable function keys, and a better design. I was shown SpacePilot PRO under non-disclosure in a hotel room back at SolidWorks World, and like the color LCD panel that even shows email, calendar events, and tasks -- but then was disappointed that the display was limited to Microsoft’s Outlook at this time. Pressing the added navigation keys rotate 3D models to 32 standard views, such as top, back, and isometric. The 3D mouse has five spare functions keys that you can assign to software commands. The LCD panel and all keys can be customized through APIs. Supported on Windows, Linux, Solaris, but not Mac. www.3dconnexion.com - - - In related meta-news, Steve Johnson lists 15 blogs and other sites (plus mentions the unnumbered number of Twits) that talked up this device last week. He reports which sites admitted to being given the device free (or looking forward to getting it free) -- and which didn't. www.blog.cadnauseam.com/2009/04/17/not-another-spacepilot-pro-review Me, I've been given three SpaceNavigators over the years, and all sit unused in the back of my hardware closet. - - - This is a first: a new company named after me! GrabCAD is a CAD drawing service operated in Estonia by Hardi Meybaum. You upload 3D models, 2D drawings, or image files at www.grabcad.com , paying $25 each. The company returns sketches as drawings, 2D drawings as models, and/or 3D models as renderings. [I wonder if they will also launch NewtCAD or TaraCAD sites?] I highlighted D:Profiler from Beck Technology a few weeks ago, and now the company is making the software available at no cost to the unemployed for up to 6 months, along with free online training. Register at www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bgyGxrSDMz5VESfiMVP_2f9A_3d_3d Think3 celebrates its 30th anniversary, and releases TD PLM, a new PLM [product lifecycle management] application delivered as a Web-based suite. www.think3.com Autodesk had been offering free software to students and instructors (well, anyone with an .edu or similar email address) through its The Student Community site. Now for the first time AutoCAD is available on its own. [To get at AutoCAD previously, my students would download Civil 3D.] The company says 570,000 have signed up since 2006. www.autodesk.com/education
- - These were some of the news items that were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com >:
Hardware News ATI is working with StudioGPU to optimize hardware and software for realtime 3D rendering -- or at least reduced from hours to minutes or seconds -- through MachStudio Pro software running on ATI FireGL V8650 3D graphics cards. www.studiogpu.com This could be in reaction to Caustic Graphics promising 3-5 fps on its Ray Tracing Processing Unit now, and 40fps next year. www.caustic.com
Seminars & Conferences First ODA World Conference by The Open Design Alliance is Apr 27–29 in Leiden, The Netherlands. www.opendesign.com/conference [I'll be reporting from this conference next week.]
New Books/eBooks What’s Inside? AutoCAD 2010 Letters to the Editor Re: Autodesk Holds a Manufacturing Tech Day "Replace Inventor and Revit with AutoCAD verticals? They started out that way (MDT and ADT) and went way out of their way replacing the AutoCAD underpinnings. Not sure if your theory will prove true." The editor replies: "Probably not. But I have seen (1) the difficulty Autodesk has in getting drawings to exchange smoothly; (2) the increase in verticals written for AutoCAD; and (3) the lack of any non-DWG software." Mr Stein responds: "No doubt it hasn't panned out the way they expected." - - - "I do have to comment on your hypothesis of AutoCAD running as a base for the flavors of Autodesk. MDT v6 and Inventor were bundled together for a time with AutoCAD Mechanical because the kernels could not be reconciled. Given Autodesk’s business practice of purchasing code wholesale rather than develop it in house, it would be a costly time-consuming venture to allow the various different formats to communicate and translate the DWG format effectively. "Even if Autodesk were able to jury-rig AutoCAD and Inventor on a reliable basis, they would still have to jury-rig a new connection to Revit and have an architectural flavor of AutoCAD or include the 'rig' to include the communication to either mechanical or architectural pursuits. "That we haven’t seen this yet, given that Inventor has been public since 2000, is an indication of the mountain that Autodesk has to climb over its legacy code in AutoCAD." The editor replies: "At the Mfg'ing Media Day, they showed their new AEC Link between Inventor and Revit -- one-way at this point." Mr Collins responds: "Not to drive the negative, but it’s been one-way since 2001. Inventor was intended as a standalone product, yet the masses called for an export to DWG. Why? Because the sheetset in Inventor was so much easier, everyone wanted to model in Inventor, export the sheetset to AutoCAD to plot. Inventor didn’t, (at that point) plot well. "When Inventor was released in 2002 with sheet metal capabilities, the drive to AutoCAD became even louder. But the kernel architecture was in the way; too much legacy code would need to be re-engineered to accommodate the new technology. Instead, Autodesk has tried to bandage the process. Seven years of attempted MacGuyvering hasn’t gotten them far, yet they persist. "As for showing it at a Media Day, pshaw! With a scripted presentation I could make the software seem capable of delivering drinks to the attendees. Deviate from the script, introduce a different file to translate, and the system dives hard -- ungraceful exits and everything. "But going between Inventor and Revit should be more likely than between Revit and AutoCAD, due to the similarities in parametric constraints and the base math required to program them."
Re: AutoCAD on the Mac "I hate to beat a dead OS but I have to chime in on the AutoCAD for the MAC issue. A Mac is just a computer with a different operating system. If Autodesk sees enough revenue to make it worth porting AutoCAD over they'll do so. If not they won't. "Further, let's say you spend about $200 on operating system enhancements for your Mac and then spend another 20 hours of your time (which I'll value at $50/hour) fiddling with it all to make it work you could have just bought a $1200 Wintel box to run AutoCAD on right? "Computers are just tools like a power saw or a drill. When I can't use my power saw to drill a hole I go to Home Depot and buy a drill -- I don't lament the fact that the power saw isn't robust enough to drill holes." The editor replies: "I guess Mac users are arguing that they waste more than 20 hours on Windows. Me, I don't care for Macs. " Mr Green responds: "Then they could buy a much nicer machine. Sometimes the Mac versus Wintel debate takes on religious proportions. It's just a computer, people!"
Re: Airbus A380 "A reader wondered, 'Maybe it's just history repeating. Wasn't the 747 designed in the booming 60s and launched in the fuel crisis 70s, flying half-full as people questioned its size?' "Ah, but there is sort of a difference. When I was teaching at BCIT, the dean of our department used to work for Boeing. His story on the 747 goes something along these lines: "Aircraft design is so expensive that the [US] government has to pay the companies just to put together a proposal for military aircraft. The 747 was designed as part of a competition to design a heavy-lifter military cargo plane. The contract was awarded to Lockheed for the C5 Galaxy, leaving Boeing with a design that was mostly paid for by the government and was relatively easy to convert to civilian use. "Evidence of its cargo genealogy can be seen in two major design details: Spin Doctor of the Moment "www.gm.com/total-confidence"
Notable Quotable "[His] theories are true enough in a somewhat self-evident way up to a point, after which they stop being self-evident but start being not so true, either."
Copyright 2009 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Article reprint fee US$250.0 and up.
All
trademarks belong to their respective holders.
"upFront.eZine," "Talking About CAD," and
"the business of CADg" are trademarks of
upFront.eZinePublishing, Ltd. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|